Detroit Lions - TeamReport

Louis Delmas was his usual goofy, playful self with his teammates during the first day of the Lions' mandatory minicamp Tuesday. He was also his usual get-out-of-my-face self with the media.

"I don't know what to tell you; I've been hurt," he said, as reporters walked along with him as he left the field.

Delmas is still unable to participate because of lingering tendinitis in his surgically-repaired left knee. When asked how he felt, he said, "Great. It feels just like how it was last year."

That can't be encouraging. Delmas did not participate in OTAs or minicamp last year. He was on the field for the first couple of days of training camp but then was shut down and eventually had surgery.

When pressed Tuesday, Delmas shut the interview down.

"Can you leave me alone? Seriously," he said.

Coach Jim Schwartz said Delmas will not participate in this three-day minicamp and it is still unknown whether he will be ready for the start of training camp at the end of July.

"Patience is a very difficult thing when you are a player," Schwartz said. "But for a player like Delmas, patience is the thing he has to have right now. He has to be patient enough to work through it and give it time to heal, then take it as it comes and not get ahead of schedule.

"Lou is working hard. He'll be back on the field sometime, but it won't be at this minicamp."

Delmas has had surgery on both knees, the right one in 2011 and the left before last season. Neither Delmas nor the team will confirm there has been any additional surgical procedure since. He was able to play eight games last season, but except for most of the game at Philadelphia in Week 5, he wasn't completely healthy.

The Lions signed Delmas to a two-year, incentive-laced $7.5 million deal this offseason. His base salary for this year is the minimum $715,000, but he will earn another $1.75 million if he is on the 53-man roster.

Schwartz was asked if the team can still count on Delmas as a starter for 2013.

"There is a long way to go before we worry about stuff like that," he said. "Now is not the time. Everybody wants to put starting jobs up for grabs and depth charts, but we're really not at that point right now.

"Let's get to training camp and see how it goes."

Glover Quin and Don Carey have been working with the first-team defense through the offseason.

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NFL Team Report - Detroit Lions - NOTES, QUOTES

--Lions defensive coordinator Gunther Cunningham, after seeing rookie defensive end Ziggy Ansah work through 10 OTAs and three days of minicamp, offered some praise.

"He's got a good feel for the game," Cunningham said of the 10th overall draft pick. "A lot of people say it's instincts. I've never heard of a human being having those (instincts).

"Maybe I'm wrong. Some doctor's going to call me saying you've got to learn things. But he has good eyes, you know, he sees the game and he shows up on some plays and amazes me. He has unique ability to slip gaps and show up. The tough thing right now is we don't have pads on. That's when the real things going to be in front of him. Hopefully, he'll be as good as we thought he was."

Cunningham offered the same tempered praise of second-round pick cornerback Darius Slay, who was a full participant in all three days of minicamp despite having arthroscopic knee surgery after the draft.

"I don't know if he knows he's in the NFL or not," Cunningham said, "That is a good thing, trust me. Somebody asked me about him, I said, 'He has no conscience.' That may be the No. 1 criteria for any corner you want on your team. He doesn't let things bother him. He's well-schooled and he's touched the ball a lot (during minicamp). He's had about three interceptions since he's come out, maybe four, knocked a couple balls down. So, we'll see. Again, Ziggy needs pads, Darius needs pads."

--Another player coming off knee surgery, receiver Ryan Broyles, was a three-day participant.

"He's had a great rehab," coach Jim Schwartz said. "He's working really hard. It's been a long time for him, second year in a row with an ACL. But, you know, every time he's gone out on the field he's made plays and he did the same thing today.

"He's still not 100 percent, but he's able to sort of pick and choose some spots in practice and he looked good."

Broyles was coming off ACL surgery on his other leg before last season and he didn't start competing in team drills until training camp. This year, he was doing individual work during OTAs and was a full participant in minicamp.

--Among the players that helped themselves this offseason was running back Joique Bell. He not only got a lot of reps with the second offensive group when Mikel Leshoure was nursing a hamstring injury, he also got expanded duties on special teams.